Joe Fresh confirms clothing was produced in Bangladesh factory that collapsed, killing at least 87

Loblaw Cos.’ Joe Fresh and Associated British Foods Plc’s Primark are among the companies whose suppliers made garments at the Bangladesh factory building that collapsed today, killing at least 87 people

Loblaw Cos.’ Joe Fresh and Associated British Foods Plc’s Primark, which today said that their suppliers made garments at the collapsed factory, both vowed to help improve working conditions in Bangladesh.

The disaster is another black mark on Bangladesh’s industrial safety record, which made headlines after a fire at a plant producing garments for companies including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. killed at least 100 people in November. More than 700 garment workers have died since 2005 in Bangladesh, according to the International Labor Rights Forum, a Washington-based advocacy group.

“Labor rights groups around the world have been asking, indeed imploring, major retailers to address the grievous safety hazards in their Bangladesh factories and the response is always the same: vague promises and public relations dodges, while the pile of corpses grows ever higher,” Scott Nova, executive director of the Washington-based Worker Rights Consortium, said today in a statement.

Joe Fresh, the clothing brand owned by Brampton, Ontario-based Loblaw, had a “small number” of items produced at the complex, Julija Hunter, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement.

The company is “saddened” by the tragedy and will work with its vendor to see how it can help, she said. Loblaw has standards for suppliers to make sure that products are produced in a socially responsible manner and conducts regular audits to ensure compliance, Hunter said.

“We hope to hear more from the authorities about the status of this situation and we are committed to supporting them,” she said.

“From a financial point of view, this is not expected to impact sales,” Hunter told the Financial Post. “The amount of production is small, it’s not material.”

Primark Supplier

One of Primark’s suppliers occupied the building’s second floor, the company said in a statement. The budget fashion chain owned by London-based Associated British Foods said it was “shocked and saddened” by the accident and has worked with non-governmental organizations to help improve factory standards in Bangladesh.

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is investigating its supply chain to see if a factory in the building was producing for the company, Kevin Gardner, a spokesman for the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer, said today in an e-mailed statement.

“We are sorry to learn of this tragic event,” Gardner said. “We remain committed and are actively engaged in promoting stronger safety measures, and that work continues.”

800 Injured

The accident at the eight-story building injured about 800 people working in the plants, the Bdnews24.com website, which said 80 people had been killed, reported without citing anyone. As many as 6,000 people were employed in the facilities housed in the building 24 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of the capital Dhaka, the news website reported. A few shops and a bank also had an office in the area, Health Minister A.F.M. Ruhal Haque said in a briefing today.

“It will take a lot of time to get a full picture of the devastation,” Nilufa Yasmin, a duty officer at the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence, said in a phone interview. “The top five floors of the building collapsed on top of each other, trapping many inside.”

Television images showed rescuers struggling to help people out from the mangled pieces of concrete, rods and bricks. The government has deployed the army, the elite Rapid Action Battalion and police to help fire officials in the rescue effort. About 16 people have been taken out from the building, said Nazrul Islam, a fire department official.

Bangladesh Shift

Surging wages and inflation in China, the largest apparel supplier, have prompted retailers such as Wal-Mart and Sears Holdings Corp. to shift production to Bangladesh. In response, an US$18 billion manufacturing industry has sprung up, marred by factories operated in buildings with poor electrical wiring, an insufficient number of exits and little fire-fighting equipment.

The collapsed building had developed cracks yesterday, prompting BRAC Bank Ltd. to order its employees to vacate the premises, said Zeeshan Kingshuk Huq, a spokesman.

About half of the Bangladesh’s garment factories don’t meet legally required work safety standards, and those that have improved working conditions have done so under pressure from Western apparel makers, said Kalpona Akter, executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, a non- governmental organization founded by two former garment child workers to promote safer factories.

Bangladesh’s labor law requires safety measures such as fire extinguishers and easily accessible exits at factories.

Safety Upgrades

Labor rights activists are urging the industry to help pay for safety upgrades at about 4,500 Bangladesh factories. Doing so would amount to 10 cents per garment — or US$3 billion over five years — according to an analysis provided by the Worker Rights Consortium.

Textiles contribute more than 10 percent of Bangladesh’s gross domestic product and about 80 percent of the nation’s exports, mainly to the U.S. and the EU, according to the manufacturers’ association.

It’s not immediately clear for which companies the garment factories made clothes. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said in a statement that she was shocked at the tragedy. Bangladesh will observe a day of mourning tomorrow, Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters in Dhaka.